Global trends in tick research: a comprehensive visualization and bibliometric study (2015–2024)

Hangli Su^1,2Maoqing Gong¹Lijuan Liu^1,2*Zhaoan Sheng^3*Benguang Zhang^1,2*

• ¹Shandong Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jining, China
• ²School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, China
• ³Department of Pathogenic Biology, Jining Medical University, Jining, China

Ticks are ectoparasitic blood-sucking arthropods. As key disease vectors, the pathogens transmitted by ticks pose significant threats to livestock and global public health. We searched the Web of Science and Scopus databases for global literature on ticks published between 2015 and 2024. Using VOSviewer and CiteSpace software, we conducted bibliometric and visualization analyses of the national, institutional, journal, author, keyword, and reference data from the relevant literature. The aim was to assess the characteristics of global tick-related scientific research, identify research hotspots, and explore future trends in this field. The study comprised 13,499 valid articles. The United States led with 30.85% of the articles, followed by China (10.46%) and Brazil (9.99%). Marcelo B. Labruna, a Brazilian author, demonstrated the highest productivity. The institution with the most articles was Universidade de São Paulo, and the journal Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases had the largest number of publications. Keywords related to tick-borne diseases and pathogens, such as "Lyme disease," "tick-borne encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitis virus," and "rickettsia," appeared relatively often, while keywords such as "One Health" and "antimicrobial resistance" have emerged in recent years. The study of ticks and the diseases they transmit, as well as the pathogens they carry, has always been a focus for researchers worldwide. Under global climate change, the diversity of tick-borne pathogens is expanding, as evidenced by their increased geographical distribution patterns. Therefore, research is increasingly moving toward multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral approaches, aiming to safeguard the environment and to protect the health of humans and livestock through the establishment of systematic tick control systems.